Sahara Group’s 500-acre plot in Mumbai may open-up for development with diluted CRZ norms

January 21, 2019

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The 106-acre sprawl at Pahadi in Goregaon (West) controlled by the Lucknow-based conglomerate is part of a 500-acre parcel which belongs to the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Group.

Construction industry sources said almost one-third of Sahara’s portion near the creek fell under CRZ, where no construction is permitted. However, the new CRZ rules, which have still to be notified by the state government, reduce the construction buffer zone near creeks from 100 metre to 50 metre.

Till recently, the plot was worth virtually nothing as it was marked as a no-development zone (NDZ) with mangroves, mudflats and a creek, and fell under CRZ I, where no construction is permitted. However, last year, the state government changed the status to a special development zone (SDZ) on Sahara’s plot, thereby lifting the construction restriction.

Now, with the further dilution of CRZ, market sources said the 106-acres could be worth anywhere from 25,000 crore to 40,000 crore, depending on the floor space index (FSI) and other construction benefits like transfer of development rights (TDR) allowed on this plot.

A Sahara Group spokesperson said it would not comment. However, a source claimed around 35 acres of the 106 acres fell under CRZ; a part of it was submerged land. “But now with the buffer zone reduced by half under the new CRZ rule of 2018, that much area will be opened up for development,” he said.

“The first bonanza for Sahara was when the state urban development department modified the city’s development plan (excluded portion) for this land and declared it as a SDZ. The diluted CRZ will further increase the ground footprint on this land,” said the source.

The larger portion of around 400 acres is owned by the Jeejeebhoy Group, one of the largest private land owners in the city. Last year, the urban development department reserved 100 of these 400 acres for a new high court complex, a campus for the Maharashtra National Law University and a car shed for the Mumbai Metro line. Environmentalist Debi Goenka, who has pursued this case over the past two decades, said the 500-acre plot was entirely covered with mangroves in 1997.

“These mangroves were destroyed between 1997 and 1999 for building a golf course, with over 400 bungalows each on 1-acre plots. In 2013, after a long and convoluted set of legal proceedings, the ministry of environment and forests sought action against those responsible,” said Goenka.

The landowner has claimed there were no mangroves on this plot. Recently, a state government appointed committee concluded that no forests had been destroyed between 2005 and 2018.